The girl in the Red Hood
by just-a-littleGrimm
Summary: A classic story with modern horrors.


She went by Red because of her cloak, everyone knew exactly who she was, "little red" as they called her, but she was no longer little. She wore the cloak to cover her skin, that was usually every color of purple, green, and yellow and only featured red on occasion. She wore a smile to save her pride, because in the end it was all she had. She walked the village with her hood tied tight and a little basket housing the mead her father had ordered her to get. Always getting something stronger hoping to get him passed out faster, because in the times he was asleep she was less at risk. Her father was nothing more than an abusive drunk and she loathed him all the more for it. Now her mother wasn't innocent either. Instead of protecting her daughter she could have honestly cared less. Instead she baked cakes, pies, and any other sweet treat she could think of, but with her own special ingredient, poison. She would then have her daughter take them in her small basket through the woods to her grandmothers house. Always with the same instructions, "Stay on the road and hurry there, spend sometime with your grandmother who knows how long she has left, and more than anything watch out for the Wolf". What her mother didn't know was that her child had witnessed her ingredients and knew the evil she intended for her own mother. Yet, her grandmother had not been fooled either, instead she cared for her granddaughter with the love her own daughter never gave. She continued to care for her until the day of her own passing. Before she went into the great beyond she made her one and only grandchild promise to keep her passing a secret. She then told the child that she had changed the will against her daughter and gave all her property and money to her. It wasn't until Red was twenty-one did she even understand all her beloved grandmother did for her. For her entire life Red had only known love in small secret amounts when her mother sent her to visit her grandmother, but after her passing Red withdrew into herself. Blindly obeying and taking her beatings while not really surviving in this world. Her mother still sent her with poisoned treats and only once did he ever consider eating one. Yet, in her broken, beaten heart she still had one sliver of hope, of what she was not sure but it was enough to keep her surviving and waiting for her hope to come to life. Red's hope came in a simple thing. On her way to her grandmothers house, after a horrendous day and night of beatings and verbal abuse from both her mother and father she spotted a flower just off her usual path. It was early spring and it seemed to be the first form of life she had seen as of yet. To her it was a gift of joy where she had none. Taking her first steps off the path since the beginning of time she walked to the flower. Upon reaching the flower she found another, and another, and another. Soon she began follow them as if they were leading her somewhere. She found herself in a clearing surrounded in the most beautiful of Gods creations. Flowers of all different colors, with little fairies harboring the most gorgeous wings flying from flower to flower, little and big creatures alike enjoying their secluded paradise. Here for the first time in her entire life she felt free with no worries or problems. In this meadow for the first time, she shed her outer shell and took off her red cloak. As she laid down in the valley of her paradise her arms and and legs blending in with the colors of the valley's floor. Never once did she feel more beautiful. All at once the cacophony of the meadow's noise abruptly stopped and she knew she was not alone. She tried to lay still hoping it wasn't one of her parents angrily searching for her. A deep voice cleared their throat and she instantly knew the person standing in her meadow. She knew she should be afraid but after everything else their was nothing to fear. Slowly she stood to face the young man leaning against a tree. "Kieran Wolfe" she forced politely. He almost smirked but instantly his eyes turned hard and his body rigid. For a moment she was scared for this was the Wolf her mother was talking about when she warned her against him on her travels. Kieran was the son of the blacksmith, sturdy and strong, but people feared him for his temper. Many of times he had broken objects in the smithery and was seen pushing and hitting his father. Yet, at that moment Red was thinking nothing of Kieran except to where he was staring. Standing vulnerable before him wearing only her dress and not her cloak she followed his gaze to the black and blue splotches peppering her arm. Hesitantly he walked over to her as she stood perfectly still. Upon reaching her he slowly lifted his hand towards her and she flinched, but had no other reaction otherwise. He whispered under his breath, words she had heard many a time cursing her but these were not spoken at her, and with a more sincere word thrown in just as regularly. Finally meeting her gaze and spoke gently "Please forgive me, I had no idea. I am so sorry, so very sorry. May I please see your arm?" Carefully she lifted it into his strong, rough hands and at his light contact her heart jumped. She in all her life had never felt this. If you asked her she could never explain it. It was like the most intense pain mixed with the most pleasurable joy. Like her whole body was on fire while she was standing in the winters snow. It felt like finally being whole and split at the same time. For Red could not have know that this was the feeling of love, for she had never felt it before, but she knew it would be the only thing to break her withdrawlment from the world.


End file.
